Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band formed in Gainesville, Florida, in 1976.[1] The band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer Stan Lynch and bassist Ron Blair. In 1982, Blair, weary of the touring lifestyle, departed the band. His replacement, Howie Epstein, remained with the band for the next two decades. In 1991, Scott Thurston joined the band as a multi-instrumentalist, primarily on rhythm guitar and secondary keyboard. In 1994, Steve Ferrone replaced Lynch on drums. Blair returned to the Heartbreakers in 2002, the year before Epstein's death. The band had a long string of hit singles, including "Breakdown", "American Girl" (both 1976), "Refugee" (1979), "The Waiting" (1981), "Learning to Fly" (1991), and "Mary Jane's Last Dance" (1993), among many others, that stretched over several decades of work.
For the band's debut album, see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (album). For the punk band, see The Heartbreakers.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Although Petty was insistent that the band's musical style be referred to as simply rock and roll,[2] the Heartbreakers' music was characterized as both Southern rock[3] and heartland rock,[4] cited alongside artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, and John Mellencamp as progenitors of the latter genre, which arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s. While the heartland rock movement waned in the 1990s, the band remained active and popular, touring regularly until Petty's death in 2017, after which the Heartbreakers disbanded. Their final studio album, Hypnotic Eye, was released in 2014.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, their first year of eligibility. Although most of their material was produced and performed under the name "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers", Petty released three solo albums, the most successful of which was Full Moon Fever (1989). In these releases, some members of the band contributed as collaborators, producing and performing as studio musicians.
History[edit]
Early years and first two albums (1974–1978)[edit]
Petty's early bands included the Sundowners, the Epics, and Mudcrutch. In 1974, Mudcrutch signed with Shelter Records and re-located to Los Angeles, California. They released one single, "Depot Street", in 1975, which failed to chart; the group consequently disbanded.
In 1976, Petty, with himself as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, formed "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers" with Mike Campbell on lead guitar, Benmont Tench on keyboards, Stan Lynch on drums and Ron Blair on bass.[1] The Heartbreakers began their recording career with a self-titled album, released through the Shelter label. Initially, the Heartbreakers did not gain much traction in the U.S., although they achieved success in the UK playing "Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll" on Top of the Pops.[5] Early singles included "Breakdown" and "American Girl". Recalling the band's first gig in the UK in 1976, Petty states, "The audience just jumped up and charged the stage and were boogieing their brains out. It was such a rush. Wow, we had never seen anything like that, man."[5] "Breakdown" was re-released in the U.S. and became a Top 40 hit in 1978, after word filtered back of the band's massive success in Britain, and perhaps more importantly after it featured on the extremely popular soundtrack to the 1978 film, FM. "American Girl" was covered in 1977 by Roger McGuinn on his "Thunderbyrd" LP.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' second album, You're Gonna Get It! (1978), was their first gold record, and featured the singles "I Need to Know" and "Listen To Her Heart". In 1979, the band was dragged into a legal dispute when ABC Records, Shelter's distributor, was sold to MCA Records. Petty refused to be transferred to another record label and held fast to his principles, which led to his filing for bankruptcy as a tactic against MCA.
Mainstream success (1979–1984)[edit]
In 1979, after their legal dispute was settled, the Heartbreakers released their third album Damn the Torpedoes through MCA's Backstreet label. The album rapidly went platinum. It included "Don't Do Me Like That" (#10 U.S., the group's first Top Ten single) and "Refugee" (#15 U.S.), their U.S. breakthrough singles.
Although he was already extremely successful, Petty again ran into record company trouble when he and the Heartbreakers prepared to release Hard Promises (1981), the follow-up album to Damn the Torpedoes. MCA wanted to release the record at the list price of $9.98. This so-called "superstar pricing" was a dollar more than the usual list price of $8.98. Petty voiced his objections to the price hike in the press, and the issue became a popular cause among music fans. Non-delivery of the album or naming it Eight Ninety-Eight were considered, but eventually MCA decided against the price increase. The album became a Top Ten hit, going platinum and spawning the hit single "The Waiting" (#19 U.S.). The album also included the duet "Insider", with Stevie Nicks.
On their fifth album, Long After Dark (1982), bass player Ron Blair was replaced by Howie Epstein (formerly of Del Shannon's backing band), giving the Heartbreakers their lineup until 1991. Long After Dark features the hits "You Got Lucky" (U.S. #20) and "Change of Heart" (U.S. #21), and was to feature a track called "Keeping Me Alive", but producer Jimmy Iovine vetoed it from the album. Petty had expressed that he felt the album would have been more successful if "Keeping Me Alive" had been included.[6]
Southern Accents and Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) (1985–1988)[edit]
On the sixth album, Southern Accents (1985), the Heartbreakers picked up where they had left off. The recording was not without problems; Petty became frustrated during the mixing process and broke his left hand when punching a wall. The album included the psychedelic-sounding hit single "Don't Come Around Here No More" (#13 U.S.), which was produced by and co-written with Dave Stewart. The video for the single, which starred Stewart, featured Petty dressed as the Mad Hatter, mocking and chasing Alice from the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, then cutting and eating her as if she were a cake. This caused minor controversy after it was criticized by feminist groups, but the video did win an MTV Video Music Award.
A successful concert tour led to the live album Pack Up the Plantation: Live! (1985). The band's live capabilities were also showcased when Bob Dylan invited the Heartbreakers to join him on his True Confessions Tour through Australia, Japan and the U.S. (1986) and Europe (1987). Petty praised Dylan, saying, "I don't think there is anyone we admire more."
Also in 1987, the group released Let Me Up (I've Had Enough), a studio album made to sound like a live recording, using a technique they borrowed from Dylan. It includes "Jammin' Me" (#18 U.S.), which Petty wrote with Dylan and Campbell. Dylan recorded a version of the Petty composition "Got My Mind Made Up" on his album Knocked Out Loaded, which was credited as being written by Dylan and Petty.
Comeback and return to popularity (1989–2005)[edit]
In 1989, Petty released his debut solo album Full Moon Fever, which included five singles ("I Won't Back Down", "Runnin' Down a Dream", "Free Fallin'", "A Face in the Crowd" and "Yer So Bad"), and was accompanied by a tour with the Replacements. Two years later, the Heartbreakers released Into the Great Wide Open, produced by Jeff Lynne, who had worked with Petty in the Traveling Wilburys. Songs included the title track itself and "Learning to Fly". Multi-instrumentalist Scott Thurston joined the band as of the tour for the album.
Relationship with music industry[edit]
Petty fought against his record company on more than one occasion: first in 1979 over transference to another label,[33] and then again in 1981 over the price of his record, which was (at that time) considered expensive.[34] He was also outspoken on the current state of the music industry and modern radio stations, a topic that was a center concept of the lyrics of his 2002 album The Last DJ and its respective limited edition DVD.[35]
In an interview with Billboard magazine, Petty described himself as "not really [being] involved in the business side of music".
